


Fear of the Times

by SilverScribe



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Current Events, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay, Gay Rights, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Immigration, Inspired by Real Events, Love, Politics, Sad, Social Commentary, Stress, Women's Rights, Yes there is still fluff, pretty much everything the current political environment threatens, vent fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-09-26 18:49:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9916217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverScribe/pseuds/SilverScribe
Summary: It's date night for Pearl and Sheena. But something's wrong... Or, Pearl desperately tries to figure out why her girlfriend is crying.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys. As you can probably tell this work is a bit...charged. Charged by the current state of events in the world. I've been trying to write something like this for months, to help work through my own feelings on everything, and this finally came together.
> 
> So fair warning, if you want to avoid any of the stuff in the tags turn back now.
> 
> It's helped me to write this, hopefully before this fic is through it might help a few of you too.

Sheena was crying.

Sheena was crying and Pearl had no idea what to do.

She didn't even understand what was wrong. She'd come over to pick Sheena up for their date, Greg had been kind enough to loan her the Dondai again, and when Sheena had answered the door and seen Pearl awkwardly standing there in her leather jacket holding a bouquet of violets she'd burst into tears.

Not at all the reaction Pearl was hoping for, although the following hug had been nice.

But now she was sitting with Sheena on her couch, stroking her wonderful pink mane and making soothing noises, while she tried to get her to explain what was wrong.

“Sheena, please tell me what's the matter?” Pearl asked pleadingly. In response Sheena just snuffled and buried her face further into Pearl's chest.

Oh dear, this wasn't working out well at all. She wasn't very good at comforting people. She had to get Sheena to calm down. But how? She thought back to when Steven was younger, when he'd cried she'd always given him something to drink to help him calm down. It was worth a try.

“Sheena, I'm going to go to the kitchen and get you something to drink okay? Is that all right?” Pearl asked. In response Sheena nodded her head against her chest but otherwise didn't move. “Sheena, I need you to let me out of this hug so I can move. N-Not that I mind hugging you! It's just that it will make preparing a beverage very awkward ...” Pearl groaned internally at herself, now was not the time for her to get flustered.

Sheena's shoulders shook slightly and for a moment Pearl thought a new wave of sobs was coming. Instead a series of snuffling giggles escaped from her girlfriend as she released Pearl from her arms and sat up. She still had tears in her eyes and her breathing was uneven but she smiled as Pearl stood up.

“Okay. I'll be right back. Then we can talk about what's upset you. Together,” Pearl said. Sheena nodded and squeezed a pillow to her chest as Pearl made her way to the kitchen. She was still worried, but the smile and giggles were a good sign.

Now, what should she get Sheena to drink? She cast an appraising eye over the small kitchen. It was quite neat and orderly, which Pearl greatly approved of. There was a small table in the center with a lovely pink and purple striped table cloth. The beige refrigerator held a multitude of magnets. From what Pearl could gather they were the logos of several different bands, and on the cream colored counter sat a teapot. A teapot! That was perfect, tea always calmed her down. Not the actual liquid of course, but the smell.

Pearl quickly filled the light blue teapot, set it on the stove and began looking through Sheena's cabinets. Before long she came across several packets of chamomile tea. Excellent. This scent always relaxed her, surely drinking it would do Sheena some good. A few minutes later Pearl walked into the living room with two cups of steaming tea in hand. Sheena was right where she left her, arms curled around a pillow, sitting on the couch.

“Here, drink this,” Pearl said as she sat down next to her girlfriend and offered her the pale lavender teacup. Sheena sniffled a bit as she took the cup.

“You're drinking too?” Sheena asked in a shaky voice when she noticed the other cup in Pearl's hand.

“Oh no, not at all. But I do very much enjoy the scent,” Pearl responded with a comforting smile. “Now, can you tell me what's wrong? Please? I want to help.”

Sheena sniffled a few more times and then downed half her teacup in one gulp before answering. “Thanks for the tea, although right now I could probably use something a bit stronger,” Sheena said with something between a chuckle and a sob.

“Oh. Um, I could see if you have anything else in the kitchen? Perhaps a nice black tea,” Pearl said, putting down the cup she'd been sniffing appreciatively and starting towards the kitchen door.

“Pearl no, that's not what I— It was more of a joke...Ugh, never mind, just sit please?” Sheena finally finished with a real laugh this time and a shake of her head. That made Pearl feel better at least, even if she was rather confused.

“All right,” Pearl said, sitting back down and laying her hand over Sheena's. “Now tell me, what's wrong?”

“I don't know, just everything? It's been building up for awhile now. Ever since the election. But every day the news seems worse and worse and tonight I was reading stories on my phone about what's been happening and what _could_ happen and....and...it just got to be too much you know? I'm sorry, I've let this ruin our date night,” Sheena finished all in a breathless rush. She looked like she was about to start crying again as she hastily gulped down the rest of her tea. Pearl quickly passed Sheena her cup and wrapped a long arm around her shoulders.

“What? Don't be ridiculous. You haven't ruined anything, I love spending time with you. No matter what,” Pearl said in the most soothing voice she could manage. Inside though her mind was reeling. Election? News? These were all very human concepts that she had very little knowledge of. She'd have to ask Sheena to explain if she were to help but...was that appropriate?

“Thanks Pearl, it's just a really messed up world out there right now you know?” Sheena said as she leaned into Pearl's shoulder and cradled her teacup gingerly between her large hands.

Pearl thought about faking for a moment, of trying to muddle her way through the conversation and pick up clues as she went, but she knew that would be wrong of her. She'd already learned that honesty was best in any relationship. The hard way. “No, I'm afraid I don't,” Pearl said tentatively. “I'm sorry, Gems don't really keep up with human affairs. But if you could explain it to me I'm willing to listen and help in any way I can.” Sheena stared at her for a moment and then to Pearl's relief grinned.

“Right, guess millennia old sentient space rocks wouldn't keep up with human politics huh?”

“No, we mostly stay out of human matters. Well we have for centuries now at least, Rose did take issue with a few monarchs during the dark ages...” Pearl answered with a smile of her own. Evidently it'd been the right thing to say because Sheena laughed again and that lit up Pearl's whole world. But her smile quickly faded and she leaned further into Pearl as she stared down into her tea and began to explain. She gave Pearl a rough overview of the country's political system as it was, which to her seemed horribly inefficient and prone to corruption, and then began tackling the many issues distressing her. She explained about minorities, gender inequality, immigrants, different sexualities and gender identities. She spent a particularly long amount of time discussing the LGBTQ community, which Pearl discovered that by human standards she certainly belonged to. She talked about all the slow and painstaking progress those groups had made in the past few decades and how far they'd come from the distant past.

Then she explained to Pearl everything that was threatening that progress and what had caused her such distress. The news about the recent treatment of immigrants struck Pearl especially, what were she and her family if not immigrants to Earth? In the end what Pearl gathered from all of this was that Sheena was scared, and so were many, many other people. And honestly Pearl couldn't blame them, things almost seemed like a precursor to a Diamond Authority style of governance. If you don't fit into the mold those in power hold to then you're cast out. Well, that may be taking things a bit far at this point, but it was certainly a concerning thought.

Sheena seemed much calmer after she was done talking. She sat her teacup down on the table and then snuggled even deeper into Pearl's side, resting her head against Pearl's chest. Pearl's cheeks colored a slight teal at the affection but she certainly wasn't complaining. It was nice, being able to make someone else feel safe. It wasn't a feeling she was exactly used to. Before long Sheena's breathing slowed into a steady, even rhythm and Pearl realized she'd fallen asleep. Pearl didn't mind, she loved watching Sheena sleep, so she settled in with her thoughts and tried to think of some solution to the problems so distressing Sheena. She wasn't really sure where to start honestly, why had the humans of this country elected such a leader? Although she suspected that had more to do with their flawed election system than anything else. From what Sheena had explained the majority certainly didn't support the current leadership.

After several hours of mulling it over and softly caressing Sheena's hair she wasn't any closer to a real solution. Well except maybe one. All this talk of abused power, of people being oppressed for their beliefs and differences had certainly sparked an old fire inside her. But they couldn't do that? Could they? The more she thought about it the better the idea seemed. In the end she'd never really stopped being a renegade. She'd have to talk to Garnet about all of this, but that could wait until tomorrow. For now she was going to spend the rest of the night cuddling with her sleeping girlfriend.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time Garnet tries to explain to Pearl why overthrowing a world government is a _bad_ idea.
> 
> There we are, hopefully the second chapter comes together decently. This fic is kinda important to me.
> 
> Special thanks to [CoreyWW](http://archiveofourown.org/users/CoreyWW/pseuds/CoreyWW), [CompletelyDifferent](http://archiveofourown.org/users/CompletelyDifferent), and [airamcg](http://archiveofourown.org/users/airamcg) for beta reading this chapter for me. They're all wonderful authors, go check them out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back...finally. This chapter is extra long, so hopefully that makes up for it. Hope you enjoy!

Pearl wore a smile as she made her way up the beach towards the temple. She'd just dropped off the Dondai with Greg after her morning with Sheena, and what a lovely morning it had been. Sheena had woken up feeling much better, and she'd wanted to make up for the previous night before she went into work. That led to nearly an hour of cuddles and kisses on the couch, the thought of which still had Pearl flushing to her neck. Then she'd made Sheena breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes, and seen her on her way before leaving.

Pearl was happy that their talk seemed to have helped, but she felt like she needed to take more concrete steps towards matters. She'd done some of her own research via the phone Steven had bought her while Sheena was sleeping and what she'd found only stoked her unease. She needed to find Garnet. She pushed open the screen door to the beach house and immediately spotted Amethyst in the kitchen. She was eating a sandwich. A sandwich leaking a blue substance that Pearl didn't care to identify.

“Yo P! Are you just getting back?” Amethyst asked.

“Yes I am Amethyst, and don't talk with your mouth full,” Pearl replied with a sigh as she sat down at the kitchen counter across from Amethyst.

“Ohhohoho! So I'm guessing you two had a _really_ good time then?” Amethyst said with a waggle of her eyebrows. Pearl blushed furiously.

“No! I mean yes... But not like that!” Pearl squawked.

“Calm down pierogi, I'm just joshing ya,” Amethyst laughed before finishing the rest of her snack in one enormous bite. “Did ya at least make it ta first base?”

“Wha... first base? Our date didn't involve baseball Amethyst,” Pearl replied with an arched eyebrow. Amethyst immediately burst into a fit of laughter.

“No you dork! It's slang, I mean did you....” Amethyst leaned across the kitchen counter and shape-shifted her lips several times larger than normal before puckering them up and making the most disturbing noises right in Pearl's face.

“Amethyst! That's disgusting! Stop!” Pearl cried while using both hands to bat away the enormous purple lips in her face. Amethyst finally relented and with a flash of violet light her face returned to its normal proportions.

“You know you love it. But yeah, didja kiss her?”

Pearl hesitated for a few moments, remembering her cuddle and kissing session of just a couple hours previous. But there was no sense in trying to hide it, the blue tinge around her cheeks gave it away anyway. Besides, she was rather proud to have made it to “first base” as Amethyst called it. “Yes...Sheena and I kissed...a lot,” she finally answered, fiddling with the sleeves of her leather jacket to avoid looking at her companion during the admission.

“Wooooo! Go P! Told ya my moves would work. Am I the ultimate wingman or what? So, which of my lines didja use?”

“None of them! We just talked,” Pearl replied, her face going an even brighter shade of teal as she remembered some of Amethyst's advice for her date. But then she remembered how her date had actually started off, remembered Sheena crying. Remembered feeling so helpless. “We just talked...”

“Whoa, look I'm sorry Pearl. Don't get all down on me, I'm just teasing.” Amethyst said, moving around the counter to sit beside Pearl.

“No, no that's not it Amethyst,” Pearl said with a sigh. “It's just...before the kissing we talked about some things and Sheena was very upset. She was crying and I didn't know what to do.”

Amethyst reached over and took Pearl's hand in her own with a gentle squeeze. “Tell me about it?” she asked in an uncharacteristically serious tone. Pearl smiled and squeezed back appreciatively, and then she did tell her about it. All of it. The human election, what had been happening in the news. The things being done, the things that might be done, how terrifying it all was for Sheena. How stressed and worried it had made her. To the point of her emotional breakdown on their date night. When she finished Amethyst just sat there for awhile, staring at the counter, still holding her hand.

“Whoa...that's some heavy stuff,” she said finally. “Now that you mention it Vidalia has been in a funk lately, but I had no idea things were this bad. This has...this has got to bring up some bad memories for you right?”

“Yes. You could say that,” Pearl replied. And it did. It sent her mind careening back over the millennia to when she was still in the service of Homeworld. Being looked down upon, treated like less than a person. Treated like disposable property. That had been her life before she ran away with Rose, before she became the _Terrifying Renegade Pearl_. The current situation on Earth wasn't nearly at that level, but it did set off uncomfortable warning alarms in Pearl's mind the more she thought about it. If something wasn't done things might get that bad here...

“Anyway, it sounds like you handled it pretty well to me Pearl. Sheena felt better and you got kisses,” Amethyst said with a grin as she nudged Pearl in the side with her elbow. She was trying to lighten the mood, she knew where Pearl's mind had wandered. Pearl appreciated it but the only thing that would really help her right now was laying out a course of action.

“Yes. Our talk and...kisses helped. But I need to do more,” Pearl said as she took her hand back from Amethyst and rubbed her temples. Amethyst was about to say something but a flash of light and the chime of the warp pad interrupted her. Garnet walked into the room, her face as stoic and unreadable as always. Pearl leapt up from her seat and approached the slightly taller gem.

“Garnet! Perfect. We need to ta—”

“No.” Garnet interrupted flatly.

“Wha-what?”

“No Pearl.”

Pearl was struck speechless for a moment while Amethyst shuffled uncomfortably back and forth on her stool. Pearl could only assume that Garnet had used future vision to preemptively deny her, which she found quite rude. She usually at least let them say their piece rather than just jump to the conclusion she had foreseen. Pearl faltered for a moment, for a long time now she had deferred to Garnet's judgement in most matters. It had made things...easier for her. But all she could see whenever she closed her eyes was Sheena's tear stained face. All she could think about were the disturbing parallels some of the current events in human politics drew with Homeworld. Feelings were stirring in her that she hadn't experienced in centuries. She felt as if she were back in the midst of the Rebellion. When she, and not Garnet, had a higher say in decisions like this.

“I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist we discuss this Garnet,” Pearl said, standing tall with a cold edge to her voice.

“It won't change anything, we're not doing it. You're not doing it,” Garnet replied in her normal, calm monotone.

“Do what?” Amethyst asked, completely lost in the exchange.

“Pearl wants us to overthrow the human government of this country,” Garnet answered, crossing her arms and leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Whoa P...I think it might be time to take off the leather jacket.”

“This has nothing to do with the jacket!” Pearl exclaimed as she violently stripped it off and threw it onto the floor, a far cry from her normal tidiness. “Do you have any idea what they're _doing_ Garnet?”

“Yes. I do. And an insurrection isn't the answer,” Garnet replied evenly, her face never changing.

“And standing by and allowing actions reminiscent of Homeworld is?” Pearl cried in a barely controlled tone. This was hitting too close to home for her. There was some shuffling by the front door, Steven and Connie had walked in and immediately picked up on the mood. Pearl hadn't noticed but Amethyst scuttled over and herded them to the couch, quietly signaling that they shouldn't interrupt, while she brought them up to speed in a series of whispered murmurs.

“You're allowing your personal feelings to cloud your judgement Pearl. We've rarely interfered in human affairs in the past and certainly not to the degree you're suggesting now. They have to be allowed to make their own way.”

Pearl was shaking. It wasn't until Garnet had denied her that she realized just how _angry_ this all made her. In the span of a day she'd gone from a casual disregard for any human matters to wanting to stage a coup. She could almost laugh but for the other emotions churning through her. At first it'd just been a desire to help ease Sheena's distress but now...now the more she thought about it the more she was taking it personally. They had sacrificed _so much_ for this planet, lost too many friends to see it and its inhabitants remain alive and free. She'd be shattered before she let anyone taint that.

“I will not stand by while some...some... _disgusting_ person treads over all the ideals we fought for. We've interfered before when we thought it necessary, it's time we do so again,” Pearl said, her voice cold and calm.

“Things are different now, humans are different now. There are different ways of fighting Pearl. Throwing down the human power of this nation isn't a viable one,” Garnet replied, standing up and resting her arms at her sides while she faced Pearl.

Pearl was still shaking as she deliberately stepped up to Garnet until she was glaring straight up into the larger gem's mirrored visor. The room was completely still as the tension built. Garnet was right, Pearl was letting her emotions cloud her judgement. The objective, analytical part of her mind knew this. She should step back, calm down and evaluate Garnet's point of view. And perhaps if Garnet hadn't begun this debate with a blunt dismissal she would have. But at the moment she was too caught up in long buried memories to care.

 

_You're just a Pearl. A trinket, a pretty plaything. Obey and serve your owner well and perhaps you will see a few centuries before she tires of you. Falter in your duties in any way and you will be shattered and discarded._

 

Pearl was breathing heavily now as her mind spiraled back to a time she thought long behind her. She was being irrational, surely humanity wouldn't allow their leaders to take them down a path such as that.

 

_All gems are created to serve the will of the Diamonds, to take their place in their order. Your place in that order is to be owned. To serve. To entertain. Fulfill that place or be cast out. Always remember, you are utterly replaceable._

_**That will be all.** _

 

There was a deafening _crack_ followed by the sound of crunching wood as Pearl put her right arm through the kitchen countertop. Despite the apparent loss of control her voice remained low and calm. “I'm not one to stand by while despots have their way with things, you of all gems should understand that Garnet.”

“I do, but I also understand that what you want to do won't help. It will only make things worse in the end,” Garnet said quietly, her calm never wavering. Although hints of tenderness had crept into her voice as she looked down at a very visibly upset Pearl.

“Your future vision isn't always accurate, it's a prediction of possibilities. We cou—”

“Excuse me M-Ma'am?” a small, timid voice called from the living room.

Pearl turned towards the couch with a start. It was Connie. And she looked...afraid. Pearl looked down at her right arm, at the hole she had punched through the hardwood counter, her hand still clenched into a fist inside. With a pang of regret she withdrew her hand from the damaged wood and clasped both in front of her. “Connie, what are you doing here?” Pearl asked as gently and kindly as she could manage.

“Sword practice Ma'am. And you were going to put Stevonnie through more drills today,” Connie answered.

Oh stars, how could Pearl have forgotten about that? Where was her mind? “Yes, well, I think we'll have to postpone today's lesson. Garnet and I have more things to discu—”

“Actually that's what I wanted to talk to you about, Garnet's right Ma-am,” Connie interrupted.

The angry, churning part of Pearl's mind wanted to simply dismiss Connie and send her home. But the proud teacher won out, Connie was perhaps the best student she'd ever taught. Human or Gem. And that look of fear Pearl had put on her face sent waves of biting guilt through her gem. “Please explain,” she said with a deep exhalation.

“W-well I-I,” Connie began nervously. But then Steven gave her hand a light squeeze and she took a deep breath before she continued. “A hostile action unseating the current government would shatter the very foundations of the country. Especially coming at the hands of a force like the Crystal Gems. It would...it would martyr them and their cause Pearl. And it would shake the core principles of most that oppose him.”

“How is that? We'd just be removing a problem Connie,” Pearl asked.

“Despite how flawed our political system may be, the fact is the current government rose to power fairly as far as the rules of that system go. For an outside force to just cast all that aside and remove it from power...that would destroy the integrity of our entire democracy. This is something we have to work at within the bounds of our system, otherwise we might as well just chuck the whole country out,” Connie explained, her voice gaining a confident, lecturing tone reminiscent of Pearl herself.

Pearl processed this all for a few moments, the only sounds to be heard through the beach house were the light calls of seagulls outside. She forced herself to take a step back from her emotions, take a step back from her feelings and look at what Connie had explained in a cold, analytical light.

Begrudgingly she came to realize Connie was right.

Things might reach a point one day where there wouldn't be a country left to chuck out. But for now doing what she was suggesting would likely do more harm than good. Her shoulders slumped and her entire body seemed to deflate as she sat down on a bar stool and put her head in her hands.

“Then how in the world am I supposed to help Sheena?” Pearl asked the room with a dejected sigh.

“Well, have you tried asking Sheena what you could do to help?” Steven asked in a comforting tone as he strode over from the couch and put an arm around Pearl's shoulders.

No. Pearl had not thought of that. Which seemed incredibly foolish in hindsight.

“No...I can't say that I have,” she answered sheepishly. Another hand came to rest on her shoulder beside Steven's. She looked up. It was Garnet.

Her mirrored shades were off. Red, blue and purple all looked down at her with a mixture of affection and...regret?

“Pearl, I want to apologize,” Garnet began. “You were right, my future vision isn't perfect. I didn't see you reacting so strongly to all of this. I shouldn't have been so dismissive of you. I should have heard your concerns out more openly. I'm sorry.”

“I'm...I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been so confrontational, allowed my emotions to get so far out of control,” Pearl responded, reaching up and placing her hand over Garnet's. Which earned her a rare, full smile from the fusion.

“I dunno, it was very nostalgic seeing a glimpse of the Terrifying Renegade Pearl again,” Garnet said with a gentle squeeze to Pearl's shoulder as her shades reappeared with a sparkle of light. “Alright, now call Sheena and talk to her about all this. She should have a few free moments right about now.”

Pearl stood as she pulled her phone from her gem and walked out onto the front deck of the house for a measure of privacy while everyone else remained inside. Part of her was oddly nervous. But after a few moments of staring at the phone lock screen, it was a picture of Connie, Steven and herself from Connie's first mission, she quickly dialed out her girlfriend's number. One ring, two rings, three rings...

“Pearl?” a mildly surprised Sheena answered.

“Hello Sheena. Do you have a few minutes to talk?” Pearl asked, already knowing the answer.

“Sure. Anything for my favorite alien babe,” Sheena replied in a teasing tone. “You've just never called me at work before.”

“Yes, well. It's about last night.”

“Yeah...look. I'm sorry about all that. I didn't mean to just dump...everything on you. You can't really care much about all these human troubles and—”

“We've been over this Sheena,” Pearl interrupted softly. “I care because you care, never think that you're burdening me. I want to help. That's actually why I called.”

“It is?”

“Yes. So please tell me, is there anything I can do?”

“Well, I don't suppose you and your space rock friends could overthrow the government or something like that?” Sheena answered lightly.

There was an awkward silence that stretched on for a few moments that seemed like days to Pearl before she was finally able to answer. “That...that was my original intention. But Garnet and Connie think it's a bad idea.”

“What?! Pearl I was kidding, you can't do that! It would do a lot more harm than good, do you realize what that would do to people?” Sheena replied in a disbelieving rush.

“I do now, which is why I'm calling you. How _can_ I help?” There was silence on the other side of the line once again before Sheena finally cleared her throat and answered.

“You could march with me.”

“March with you?”

“Yeah. You, and your friends too if they're interested. Most people think all the gems are long gone by now but you guys are legends Pearl. Like in the history books type legends. I mean it was kinda hard for me the swallow all that 'Conscious manifestation of light.' and 'Saved your planet.' stuff when we first met. But when I realized you were telling the truth...It was pretty metal. You guys showing up would be a huge publicity boost to the cause. And...and I'd feel better with you there.”

It took Pearl a few moments to process all of this. Legends? They'd already faded to legends? It was true the Crystal Gems had mostly kept to themselves since the war, protecting humanity from the sidelines, but still. Were human memories so short? And the people of Beach City certainly didn't treat them like legends...but then Pearl supposed they were used to the gems by now. But that wasn't important at present, what was important was that she'd been given a way to help Sheena. “March where exactly?”

“Oh, right. There's a big rally up in Empire City tomorrow afternoon protesting...well protesting everything that's been going on really. Sort of a combined effort by all the different groups I told you about. I was gonna leave early tomorrow morning to attend. You wanna come?”

Pearl digested this for a moment. A peaceful protest wasn't exactly the first thought that came to mind when she heard the word “march” but it sounded like a good plan all in all. “I'll be there, I imagine some of my family will come along as well.”

“That's great!” Sheena exclaimed, her voice a mixture of excitement and relief. “Listen, I gotta get back to work, but meet me at my place at eight tomorrow morning and we can all drive up together. Sound good?”

“Yes. That's fine, I'll see you then.”

“Alright. I'll see you in the morning. Love you Pearl,” Sheena answered. Then there was a click as she hung up. Pearl simply stared at her phone wide-eyed for a few moments. Taking in the smiling face of Sheena's contact photo. That was the first time...

“Love you too,” she whispered into the gentle sea breeze.

* * *

The sun was barely peeking out over the ocean the next morning as Pearl paced back and forth in the kitchen. They were waiting for Steven. Once she'd told everyone about the march yesterday he'd immediately exploded with an “OHHHHHHH MYYYYY GOOOSSSSH! I have so much to prepare!” and vanished into his bedroom. Then, later that day, he'd headed for the warp pad carrying stars knows what in that odd food shaped backpack of his. And he still wasn't back. They'd need to leave soon.

Greg was already outside waiting with the van. Pearl had called and told him about the situation and he'd jumped at the chance to come along. She took a deep breath and looked around the living room. Amethyst was putting the finishing touches on the sign she planned on bringing to the rally. It was a literal traffic sign of some sort, pulled from her junk pile no doubt. Letters scrawled in Amethyst's messy, wild handwriting in neon pink paint now covered up whatever symbol the sign had previously depicted. It read “I've lived here since before this dump was even founded. Y'all are the immigrants.” It didn't exactly...fit in her opinion. But it was decidedly Amethyst Pearl thought with a smile.

Garnet lounged easily on the couch, no doubt secure in her future knowledge that Steven would return in time. That was the only thing keeping Pearl from starting a hunt for him. She held a simple sign in her hand made of white poster board and a wooden handle. One side read “Immigrants saved this world.” while the other simply said “Love is the answer.” with a small rainbow underneath. Garnet couldn't decide which message to go for, so of course she made a “fusion sign”. She smiled and gave a reassuring nod when she noticed Pearl looking at her. Pearl smiled back.

For Pearl's part she kept it simple. She'd changed the color of her sash to all the hues of the rainbow and made it a touch longer. It seemed most fitting for her personally after she'd learned what the symbolism meant from Sheena. She thought it made a rather striking banner in it's own right when it trailed out behind her.

“Pearl, could you come help me with this for a sec?” Connie called from up in Steven's bedroom where she was getting changed.

“Coming,” Pearl replied as she made her way up the stairs. Connie had leapt at the chance to come with them as well and Pearl had been fine with it as long as she got permission from her parents first. Evidently they'd been very supportive of Connie getting involved in activism of this sort because that hadn't been a problem. She'd warped home with Lion last night and had just been dropped off by her mother a short while ago.

“Here, just hold this part over my shoulder while I clip it in place and finish wrapping the waist,” Connie said as Pearl walked up behind her. Pearl obliged, placing her long fingers on the smooth, shining material draping Connie's left shoulder as she admired her student's outfit.

This was Connie's symbol of protest. A traditional dress from her family's country of origin. Considering the current government's stance on immigration Pearl found it highly appropriate.

Connie called it a _saree_ and Pearl thought it was lovely. She vaguely recalled seeing something similar several hundred years ago when traveling through South Asia with Rose. It was a creative garment to say the least. Really just one long piece of fabric shaped around one's body through various methods of wrapping, folding and clipping. The one Connie was wearing today was a deep, rich crimson accented by bands of shimmering gold. It was quite striking set against her warm brown skin.

“Thanks Pearl,” Connie said taking a step forward and doing a small spin to check the stability of her handiwork. “I haven't worn one of these since we flew out to visit my aaya years ago. I'm out of practice.”

“You look beautiful Connie, it suits you very well,” Pearl said with a warm smile for her student. Connie's face darkened slightly at the praise.

The chime of the warp pad and the flash of light that lit up the room alerted them to Steven's return. The sudden happy shout helped too.

“We're here!”

Pearl and Connie quickly made their way down the stairs, Connie taking care not to trip over her flowing garment. “Steven! Where have you......been?” Pearl began to scold before the sight on the warp pad made her trail off. Steven stood in front. He was wearing a pale blue top with a white frill around his neck that exposed his midriff along with a knee-length blue skirt. White slippers adorned with small, pink rose buds topped it off. Pearl had to admit that it looked good oh him, and all things considered it was a very fitting way for Steven to show solidarity at the march. No Steven didn't surprise her, the two standing behind him on the warp pad did.

“Peridot...Lapis...?” Pearl said, her voice stuck somewhere between a statement and a question. Peridot stood to Steven's right. A rectangular sheet of metal hovered just above her pointy yellow hair. Painted across it in alternating letters of green and blue were the words “Your erroneously elected leadership is comprised entirely of clods!” Lapis stood casually to Steven's left with her wings fully spread. But the striking part was their color. The tips were a shining red that gradually shifted to orange then yellow then green then blue...It was a rainbow. Lapis' wings had been transformed into a watery rainbow. She flexed them slightly as Pearl watched and all the colors shimmered and danced.

“I've been informed that a clod in human leadership is enacting Homeworld-like policies. I have also been informed that destroying him with attack drones is inappropriate and counterproductive. Therefore I wish to help by taking part in this peaceful protest,” Peridot said as she stepped off the pad, her floating metal sign following.

“Yeah, what Peri said,” Lapis added, grinning down at Peridot as she followed. “Although...you guys know I could just make all the toilets in this white house place erupt endless streams of water until this guy agrees to stop making Pearl's girlfriend cry right?”

Amethyst immediately burst into laughter. “That sounds _amazing_! Let's do that!”

“Wouldn't work,” Garnet said simply from her spot on the couch.

“Peridot, Lapis. Thank you very much for coming. I take it Steven was at the barn all this time?” Pearl cut in before Amethyst could sidetrack the conversation.

“Correct. We required a thorough briefing on the matters at hand and assistance in devising our displays of protest.”

“And it took Steven half the night to convince Dot here that exploding attack drones were not the answer,” Lapis added. Peridot glared at her, Lapis just responded with a snorting giggle. “Also you wouldn't believe how long it took me and Steven to get these rainbow wings just right.”

“We used food coloring!” Steven shouted excitedly.

“And a lot of trial and error,” Lapis added as she bent her wings forward slightly into her field of view. “It took me awhile to get the trick of keeping each bit of colored water separate so they didn't just all run together.”

“Young man! Did you get any sleep at all?” Pearl asked sharply.

“A little bit, but who could sleep anyway? Today is going to be so exciting! We're gonna meet a bunch of new people, and we get to march through Empire City, and we all get to properly meet Sheena finally!” Steven answered, practically bouncing up and down in his enthusiasm.

“I really like your outfit Steven,” Connie interjected before Pearl could scold him further.

“Thanks! You look great too Connie. That outfit is so pretty on you,” Steven replied, once again Connie's face darkened with embarrassment.

“Alright everyone. Greg's waiting outside and we have a schedule to keep. Lets get to the van,” Garnet said, standing up and striding for the front door.

Pearl watched as everyone...as her family made their way out of the house and to the waiting van outside. She could hear Greg honking the horn enthusiastically as she reached up to wipe at the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. This was much more than she expected when she first explained Sheena's request to everyone. Thank the stars she was fortunate enough to have these people in her life. As she made her own way out the door and onto the beach she pulled out her phone and sent a quick text message to Sheena.

It simply read: _We're on our way._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess what I'm trying to say with this concluding chapter is...be there for each other. It's okay to be angry, it's okay to feel horrible about everything that's going on. But don't let it consume you and don't let it lead you to actions that may hurt the very things you want to protect.
> 
> But yeah, enough sappy stuff from me.
> 
> I tried to weave my own turbulent feelings about all the crap going on in the world currently into this through Pearl, Sheena, and the gang. I also tried to link some of Pearl's feelings about her past into what is going on in the present. I'm not entirely sure that worked, but there it is.
> 
> With my self-indulgent vent fic complete I shall return to happier works! Errr....well maybe not happier concerning a certain piece...but you know what I mean.
> 
> Until next time!


End file.
